O'Connor Crops & Cattle Mechanical Engineer I

American farmers have made tremendous technology advancements through hardware improvements and investments in precision agriculture. However, when it comes to the back-office, most farms are decades behind, relying on spreadsheets, filing cabinets, and decades-old on-prem software to recruit, manage, and pay their workforce. Seso is addressing this problem by modernizing the back-office for the farm.  Our mission is to build the premier platform for agribusiness to hire and manage their workforce and improve the lives of agricultural workers. We are addressing American farmers’ biggest pain point - access to qualified labor - through a software-enabled labor solution that automates the H-2A visa. Our  comprehensive HR platform streamlines and automates the hiring process for farms and  seamlessly integrates their efforts across recruitment, onboarding, payroll, and insurance while providing workers access to financial services for the first time. Seso has raised over $60M from Tier I investors including Index, Founders Fund, and Mary Meeker at Bond, and has been recognized with awards including Forbes Rising Stars and Andreessen Horowitz's American Dynamism 50. Please note, this is NOT a Seso Labor job opportunity, this role is with our client, O’Connor Crops & Cattle in Ekalaka, Montana Job Title:  Mechanical Engineer I  Location: Ekalaka, Montana Report to: Ty and Sarina O'Connor (Owners)  Compensation:  •  Full-time, $45,000 annual salary.  •  Employer-provided housing.  • Discretionary performance bonuses.  • Full coverage of visa-related expenses, including visa processing fees, accommodations, and transportation to visa appointments.  • Covered travel to the worksite upon approval of your TN visa.  Job Description and Responsibilities: • Mechanical failure analysis and diagnostics: Analyze equipment malfunctions and diagnostic data to identify root causes of mechanical failures and determine appropriate corrective or remedial action. Apply engineering judgment to distinguish between component-level faults and systemic design or operational issues.  • Engineering diagnostics and performance evaluation: Use diagnostic tools and software to read fault codes, evaluate equipment performance parameters, and generate technical findings that inform repair decisions and operational planning for OCC's vehicles and agricultural machinery.  • Equipment condition assessment and reliability engineering: Conduct systematic inspections and condition monitoring of OCC's mechanical systems to assess operational readiness, identify emerging failure modes, and develop recommendations that reduce unplanned downtime and extend equipment service life.  • Preventive maintenance program development and oversight: Design, implement, and oversee a structured preventive maintenance program encompassing service scheduling, inspection protocols, and maintenance tracking systems for OCC's fleet and mechanical infrastructure. • Maintenance records and reliability data management: Maintain detailed engineering records of maintenance activities, diagnostic findings, and equipment performance history to support reliability analysis, lifecycle planning, and continuous improvement of OCC's mechanical systems.  • Parts, tools, and maintenance resource coordination: Evaluate and coordinate the procurement of components, tooling, and maintenance supplies necessary to sustain OCC's mechanical operations, including technical assessment of replacement parts for compatibility and performance suitability.  •  Technical recommendations and engineering advisory: Evaluate recurring equipment issues and provide formal engineering recommendations regarding repair priorities, component replacement, system upgrades, and long-term maintenance strategy to optimize the performance and reliability of OCC's machinery.  • Systems-level failure analysis and design improvement: Conduct root cause analyses of recurring mechanical failures at the systems level and recommend design modifications, component upgrades, or operational procedure changes to prevent recurrence and improve overall system reliability.  • New equipment evaluation and acquisition support: Assess proposals for new equipment acquisitions by evaluating technical specifications, compatibility with existing systems, and suitability to OCC's operational requirements, providing engineering recommendations to support procurement decisions.  • Equipment installation, commissioning, and integration: Oversee the installation and commissioning of new mechanical systems and equipment, ensuring proper integration with OCC's existing infrastructure and validating performance against design and operational specifications.  • Maintenance procedure and safety protocol development: Develop and formalize written preventive maintenance procedures and safety protocols specific to OCC's fleet and equipment, establishing documented engineering standards for ongoing operational use. Requirements and Qualifications:  • Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline is required.  • Professional experience in mechanical systems analysis, equipment diagnostics, preventive maintenance program management, or related engineering practice.  • Demonstrated ability to apply engineering principles to identify failure modes, evaluate system performance, and develop technical solutions. Diversity is more than a commitment at Seso, it is the foundation of what we do. We pride ourselves on building the premier platform that serves agribusiness and improves the lives of agricultural workers. We believe in diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, ethnicity, national origin and all the other fascinating characteristics that make us all feel welcome. Seso participates in E-Verify